**Answer.** Our program regarding the Straits (admittedly still approximate for now) contains, among other things, the following:

First, the satisfaction of the national aspirations of Turkey. We consider that not only the interests of national independence require this. Our experience in resolving, over the course of five years, the national question in a state containing such an abundance of nationalities as can scarcely be found in other countries, entirely convinces us that the only correct approach to the interests of nations in such cases will be their maximum satisfaction and the creation of conditions that exclude any possibility of conflicts on this basis. Our experience has created in us an unwavering conviction that only enormous attentiveness to the interests of various nations eliminates the ground for conflicts, eliminates mutual mistrust, eliminates fear of any intrigues, creates that trust—especially among workers and peasants speaking different languages—without which neither peaceful relations between peoples nor any successful development whatsoever of all that is valuable in modern civilization is absolutely impossible.

Second, our program contains the closure of the Straits to all military vessels in both peacetime and wartime. This is—the direct immediate commercial interest of all powers, not only those whose territories directly adjoin the Straits, but all others as well. One must bear in mind that the pacifist—

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